Delaney Dispatch 4/11/2018

Submitted by Denver on April 19, 2018

The Delaney Dispatch

Report From Richmond- Special Session and Medicaid Expansion

April 11, 2018

Today my colleagues and I headed down to Richmond for the 2018 General Assembly Special Session to begin the process of reconciling the Senate and House of Delegates budgets, which includes Medicaid expansion and salary increases for our educators. Governor Ralph Northam has proposed his own budget bill, which will be evaluated by the appropriations committee before coming to the House Floor on Tuesday, April 17th, for a floor debate. I will stand behind the expansion of Medicaid in the upcoming budget proposal, ensuring that over 300,000 Virginians will have access to affordable health care. This effort will not only provide health care to our underserved populations but will provide more than $400 million to the state budget, which we, the House of Delegates, have allocated to education and other state services.

It is still uncertain when we will finally agree on a budget, but I am sure that we will keep to our constitutional requirement of having a budget by the end of the fiscal year. As our budget develops, I will keep you updated.

What's Next?: Veto Session

On April 18th, we will reconvene for what is known as "veto session." Both the House of Delegate and the Senate will consider all the Governor's vetos and amendments to legislation passed during the 2018 regular General Assembly Session. At this time, Governor Raph Northam has vetoed eight House bill and has proposed over thirty-two amendments. The Governor's vetos include a bill which prohibits local government from maintaining higher wage standards for contractors, a bill which requires local and state law enforcement to use their forces to carry out federal immigration functions, and a bill which would limit the Governor's authority to use a market-based carbon trading program to reduce air pollution.

Town Hall with Delegate Boysko:

Please join Delegate Boysko and me on April 21st from 11 AM - 1 PM for our Legislative Town Hall at the Herndon Town Council Chambers - 765 Lynn Street Herndon, VA 20170- (PLEASE NOTE THE LOCATION CHANGE). We will provide an overview of the 2018 Regular Session, reconvene session, as well as insight on where we are in the budget process. We would be more than happy to take any questions you may have. If you would like to submit your questions or topics in advance, please send an email to DelKDelaney@house.virginia.gov.

It Has Been Great to See You!:

Thank you to all who have either attended my town hall and office hours or have invited me to their community events. It has been great to see you! If you are hosting an event and would like me to attend, please be sure to send an email to me at DelKDelaney@house.virginia.gov or call my district office at 703-996-9415.